And They All Die Young
by SARXII
Summary: Naraku is dead and the group is moving on, but InuYasha finds himself wishing things were still the same as before. All that's left is Miroku, and InuYasha must find a way to come to terms with his feelings. NO DEATHS.
1. Chapter 1

**AN:** HOLY CRAP! IT'S ME!

Yes, that is correct. I'm back! I can't write on any of my other stories, so I decided towrite this one! Be worned that it is GUYXGUY(Miroku/InuYasha), and it is my FIRST guyXguy, so bare with me! I've just been sitting around, not doing alot of anything, and I decided to start with my fanfictions after a few failed attempts at writing stories of my own (they're really good but I can't make them work, it's so sad!). So, I got on here and went through my fanfics, then went through some stories that other people had written, and decided that I just HAD to do a Miroku/InuYasha one. This is Part One of a three-part series.

NOTE- No one actually dies, I promise. It just sounded really good:)

So, let the show begin!

**And They All Die Young**

**Part One**

kagomes-wanna-be

It was nighttime, as it always seemed to be. InuYasha didn't remember much about what happened during the sunlight hours anymore, because nothing really did happen. They fought their demons, they got their money, they collected their jewel shards - and that was it. That was what their lives had surmounted to. It wasn't bad, but he missed the excitement, the closeness of fighting a single common battle.

Naraku was long gone, almost a year now, and they had attempted to live normal lives for a while. The search for the jewel shards lost its urgency now that they had almost the entire jewel in tact. If some demon happened to stumble across multiples of them, thn they'd just kill it and take them. After Naraku, nothing was indefeatable.

The normalcy they searched for came rather easily, however. Easier than InuYasha would have liked. Sango returned to the village of the demon slayers, and along the way met a young black smith who decided to travel with her. They were now married and living in a hut at the edge of Kaeda's village.

Kagome still came and went as normal, but she also had someone on her side of the well. InuYasha was relieved when she told him that no matter what, this had become her home, and she could never give it up. Even with her new boyfriend, as she had called it, she always felt more connected with this period than with her own and she couldn't give it up now that she had been a part of it.

Shippo lived with Sango and her new husband, waiting 'til Kagome moved into this period permanently and they could have a hut to live in as mother and son. He had barely grown any, but he wasn't expected to since full demon blood ran through his veins.

And Miroku... Miroku never left. He was always there, in Kaeda's hut, on the trail that led them on their next journey, and by his side. Never once had he ever even shown any want to go astray as the others had or to go and discover what was left of the world to discover. He was the only one that InuYasha could trust to always be there when the moon went down at night as well as when the sun rose the next morning.

InuYasha hated it.

He could handle all of them being gone, or all of them being there, but he wasn't sure he could handle them in only bits and peices- not when the one person who stayed behind was the one he could never have the way he wanted. He didn't feel hole anymore, and he showed it. It didn't help that there wasn't a group of friends to buffer his emotions anymore towards certain others.

His eyes left the floor and traveled up to Miroku's peaceful face sitting across the way from him. With a sigh he stood and left Kaeda's small hut, unable to take Miroku being the only thing to look at anymore. The air outside was cool and light, and InuYasha appreciated it.

Anyone who knew InuYasha would think that he loved the night, but it wasn't true. Yes, this was the only time he could think, this was the only time it was quiet, but he was always alone at night. Everyone was asleep, or gone, and he was simply left to his own devices and musings. It wasn't something that he liked.

He thought too much, didn't sleep enough, and in the end it would take a toll on his mental state. Only when the group was somewhere he knew they were safe could he sleep. But now... now they were always safe, and the circumstances had changed. He had more to think about, because he had less to do. He had more to look at and more to take it. More than he would have liked.

In silence he mad made his way down the empty streetways of the village, past Sango's hut at the edge, and out into the forest. He went to the clearing in which the Goshinboku edged, but he did not jump into the old familiar tree, rather he walked to the opposite side of the clearing and stared down at the ground.

"Home sweet home," InuYasha whispered as he stared at a multiple amount of ruts in the ground.

He pulled the Tetsusaiga from the waist of his pants, still inside its sheath, and placed the tip of it into the worn groove on the ground. Slowly he walked along the ruts that he had placed in the ground many times before. The lines he created made a square area, 20 feet between each of the sides, and once he was done he walked into the square and filled in the other marks that lay in the dirt.

InuYasha looked around at the figure he had made, a gleam of anguish in his eyes. What he had just retraced was the ground print of the hut he had once dreamed of building for him and his make-shift family.

The hut had three rooms - one large main one, and two bedrooms at the back. He had even drawn out the fireplace, places of the sleeping mats, and the different peices of furniture at one point, but their lines had been lost long ago. All that was left was the outline of the would-be hut. It was a sad reminder of what had once been, what he hoped would have been, and what he knew would never be.

Originally, the two rooms were set up in the same sleeping arrangements as the group was always set up in - girls in one room (with the exception of Shippo) and boys in the other. Once Sango had come back with a courter in tow, the other room had become for simply Kagome and Shippo while Miroku and InuYasha still had the other to occupy. Then Kagome had her own courter, and Shippo began living with Sango and her now husband. So the larger-than-normal hut went from housing six to housing only one.

There would only be one living in the hut anymore. It could have been InuYasha and Miroku, they could have had their own separate rooms, but InuYasha knew he couldn't do that when he wanted so badly to be in the same room.

He hung his head in near-shame and kicked at the ground, dragging the tip of Tetsusaiga's hilt through the dirt. After the others had gone off on their own, he couldn't subdue his feelings any longer. The feelings had always been there, tickling the back of his mind or tugging at his heartstrings, but only recently had they truely come to light.

He loved Miroku, and there was no denying it.

So Miroku would have had the hut, and InuYasha would have taken his place in the Goshinboku tree. That was the closest he could get without his emotions being overwhelming. It wasn't so bad now because they were in Kaeda's hut, and that would have simply been awkward. But if they were alone...

"InuYasha?"

InuYasha jumped at the voice, spinning and lifting Tetsusaiga halfmindedly thanks to the suddeness of the person. He froze as he saw Miroku standing but a few feet from him, his dark pools of eyes staring into his with concern. InuYasha attempted to speak, but his voice caught. Luckily, Miroku spoke first. "What are you doing?"

"Keh. Nothing," InuYasha sneered, looking away and putting Tetsusaiga back into its holder on his waist.

"Well that I gathered, InuYasha," Miroku replied, his smile sincere and soft. The sound of his name on the monks tounge, with that look on his face and smile across his lips almost made his knees go weak. "I meant more along the lines of what are you doing out here?"

"Oh..." InuYasha said, feeling ridiculous as he felt his cheeks warm up. He was glad that the moon was currently being blocked by the tree line above him, or it would have been noticeable. "I wasn't doing anything really. Just didn't feel like stay in that old, musty hut," he explained, the sneer still evident in his voice.

Miroku sighed and shook his head gently as he looked at InuYasha. His tone of voice was always so pessemistic and indignant, and Miroku knew that he could behave better than that. Sometimes Miroku thought he was still just a kid. "Well, alright. We should probably get back to Kaeda's hut before you get hurt out here."

InuYasha's eyes squinted as he glared at Miroku angrily. He knew what Miroku was thinking; they all thought it. They saw InuYasha as the immature fool they had met him as. They had all grown and developed and moved on, but because InuYasha's outer looks hadn't changed with them, their minds automatically assumed that his inside hadn't changed either.

"Fine."

He walked past Miroku, keeping his eyes straight ahead of him on the way back to the hut. It made him furious that he could love a man who still saw him as a boy. One day, he would show him just what he was, just who he was.

Miroku simply watched as InuYasha started back towards the hut, sighing and shaking his head gently. His head turned back towards where InuYasha had been standing when he came upon him and looked over what InuYasha may have been so engrossed in that he didn't even notice his presence. Their were just a few lines in the dirt, nothing more, and it didn't make sense.

He shrugged gently and turned back to head to Kaeda's hut. As he walked he could see InuYasha's back in the distance, his hair swaying gently in the night breeze and his left hand on the hilt of Tetsusaiga instinctively. He couldn't help but think, as he watched his form in the little remaining moonlight, that if InuYasha could just grow up and understand a little bit more, then he would be perfect.

**AN:** AHHHH!! I'm so happy with myself:D This story is turning out REALLY good. Alot better than I thought it would, actually. Anyway. This was Part One of a three-part series, and I really hope that you guys come back to look for the other two parts that should be up soon. I'll see you guys soon. Go, be merry, and review.

kagomes-wanna-be


	2. Chapter 2

**AN:** Here is Part Two for all you lovely (though few) fans. I hope you enjoy it, and that it makes you smile and gives you those butterflies deep down in the pit of your stomach:) I'd really appreciate a few more reviews though.

**And They All Die Young**

**Part Two**

kagomes-wanna-be

Today felt as though it were perfect. The sun on his skin was warm, and it didn't shine bright enough to bother his eyes as he lay outside. A soft breeze bent a peice of the thigh-high grass down and it gently tickled his nose. Most days he would simply let it brush against his skin and enjoy the tingling feeling it brought, but today was not the day. He reached up and swatted it away annoyedly, shifting in the grass.

It had been three days since that night, and he hadn't left the hut again in all three of those nights. He didn't want Miroku coming after him like he was some lost puppy again. So, without being able to go out at night where all his thinking happened, it all got pushed into the daytime.

And that's where he was. He layed there in silence, just staring upwards into the reddening sky. He ignored the wind, he ignored the sounds, he ignored the smells. He wasn't even sure they were really there at all; that they weren't figments of his imagination. Perhaps they were the remnants of a dream as he lay in semi-consciousness, or the voices of the future that he was thinking of.

He closed his eyes and sighed, taking a deep breath of the warm summer air. Across his eyelids played the fragments of the future that he had hoped for - dreamed for. Visions of Kagome and Sango laughing as they played with Shippo and Kirara in the grass around the Goshinboku as he and Miroku sat on the porch and looked on. A smile played on InuYasha's face as he imagined reaching over and taking Miroku's hand in his own, turning to look at him and recieving a smile. The smile he had always wanted to see on the monk's face.

His eyes slid open and he once again stared at the sky, the clouds a hue of pink. He refused to let himself muse over such things for too long; they were unthinkable. Miroku was unthinkable - unreachable.

But... it was all unreachable. He knew that. He also knew that even if it were reachable, it would end sadly. They were all human, and no matter what he did he couldn't change that fact. He would live on for years and years, but they would probably be gone before he ever even looked as old as they did now.

He damned his lifespan as he looked away from the sky, closing his eyes as they began to sting. There was no way he was going to cry over something that was inevitable. It wasn't anything new to him, so there was no reason getting upset over it now. Maybe when it finally happened, and they were all gone he would allow himself to mourn them, but not when they were still alive.

Still, he didn't understand it. Their lifespans weren't even long enough for a half demon to turn 10. Their faces would wrinkle and their posture would worsen until they used canes to keep themselves up, but he would always look at them as though they were so young - as though they had to die so young. He would still be so young, and they would be gone.

A deep breath rattled his body as he sat up, pulling his knees up and resting his hands on them, staring out at the landscape blankly. Sorrow lined his face, though he tried to keep it away, but he couldn't. The thought of watching his friends wither and die was enough to make him jump to his feet and run away for good, making sure he never had to see them that way. He just wanted to remember them as they were now. Forever young, forever happy. But he couldn't move. He couldn't stand, he couldn't run, he could hardly breath.

"Wow... InuYasha, what is it that has you looking so forlorn?" Miroku stared at his friend, the deepest look of anguish on the young half-demons face. His heart tore in half at the sight of his friend. He never wanted to see InuYasha like that.

InuYasha's hand twitched and he looked at Miroku, for a second elated to see that he was there. It felt for a second as though it was a sign. He had come to rectify everything, to make everything better, to hold him and tell him it was all going to be okay. His head looked forward again, letting out a huff. "Nothing, monk."

Miroku sighed gently, looking down. First the episode at the Goshinboku and now this. Something was wrong with his friend - with the dearest person he held to his heart - and he wanted to find out what it was.

He sat down in the tall grasses next to him, gently laying his staff down. "InuYasha, I can see that something is wrong. Please, tell me what it is that has put that look on your face."

InuYasha refused to look at him, stretching his legs out straight in front of him. "I said it was nothing, monk."

"But I can see that it isn't."

"Are you calling me a liar?" InuYasha growled, finally turning his head to glare at him, regretting it.

"You are." Miroku's statement was so firm that it made InuYasha's blood bowl.

He launched himself at Miroku, grabbing him by the shoulders and slamming him roughly to the ground, his lips pulling back to expose his fands. "I don't believe that you of all people has any right to call anyone a liar, monk." InuYasha spat the last word at him. Miroku half expected poison to start dripping from the half-demons fangs.

"Perhaps, but I am a liar to help comfort the minds of manor-keepers and supply my friends with a place to rest for the night. But you, my friend, are simply a selfish, childish boy who lies for no reason other than to uphold his own ridiculous boundaries and deny his friends the closeness that they share with him!" Miroku nearly yelled at him, showing no fear as he stared directly into his friends eyes, pressing upwards to challenge his hold.

InuYasha could only stare down at him for a long moment before he released his grip on Miroku's shoulders and stood up. "Oh, fuck off," came his response, turning away from him and beginning to walk away.

Miroku sighed, closing his eyes as he sat up. "I couldn't have expected anything more," he said, standing up, brushing off his robes and picking up his staff.

InuYasha's back went rigid, turning to face Miroku, his hands clenching into fists. "What does that mean?"

"It's quite interesting," Miroku continued over him, "how someone who has traveled so far could know nothing of the world he has traveled." He knew that InuYasha would be angered, and that he was probably pushing too far, but if he needed to break him then that was what he would do.

"Know nothing?" InuYasha repeated. His breathing was labored, his shoulders rising and falling. "Know NOTHING?" he bellowed, stepping back to Miroku. "I am 178 years old, Miroku! Don't you EVER fucking tell me I know nothing of this world!"

Miroku was forced to step back at InuYasha's close proximity to him, his eyes widening at InuYasha's confession. Was his friend truely that old? He knew that demons could live for centuries, but the possibility of InuYasha's life being expanded really hadn't occured to him. They had never spoken of InuYasha's birthday, or is his, or anything pertaining to the such.

"I know far more than you ever will," InuYasha growled out, closing the gap between the two of them even more. Miroku's attention was brought back to InuYasha, taking in everything he said. "I know this world, Miroku. It is cold, and it is broken, and it isn't fucking worth it. In the end, everyone leaves you. Alright? Everyone. Leaves. You."

A tightening gripped at Miroku's chest. InuYasha - his friend and the one person he knew he could never live without - had been spited by this world. It hadn't been for 5 years, it hadn't been for ten. InuYasha had been left on his own for dozens of years. He had been left to fend for himself, to try and survive, and everyone who had ever meant anything over the near two centuries of his life had left him. He was poisoned by grief and loneliness.

"But InuYasha..." Miroku said quietly, staring at him with honest, open eyes. "You have us. You have all of us. We haven't left you, and we don't plan to."

"That's crap!" InuYasha cried out, facing away from Miroku. "They're all leaving. Sango got married, Shippo went with her, Kagome has that new man. Everyone is leaving again, Miroku." His voice had turned from harsh to inaudible.

Slowly, Miroku walked forward and reached out. "InuYasha," he said as his hand fell on his shoulder. "I'm not leaving. I'm not going anywhere."

"But I want you to."

"What?" Miroku's hand jerked back from his shoulder, leaving it suddenly cold.

"I want you to leave. I don't want you anymore."

"What are you saying InuYasha?" he asked, his voice pained at the thought of losing the man. "Why don't you want me?!" he cried, spinning InuYasha to face him.

"Because I don't want you at all if I can't have you the way I want!" InuYasha screamed into his face.

A silence fell over them, and they found themselves only able to stare at each other. InuYasha's jaw trembled as he stared into Miroku's eyes, unable to pull away. He was trapped by his deep, endless gaze. His eyes widened gently as he saw Miroku reach his hand up, wiping something from his face.

InuYasha looked down at Miroku's hand, seeing his fingers glistening. He turned his head and saw the last rays of the sun disappearing. The breeze blew his black hair into his face, showing proof that his transformation into a human actually had transpired. He looked back at Miroku, his breathing quickened as all his inhibitions fell.

He fell forward, his arms locking around Miroku as he burried his face into his shoulder. "I was lying!" he cried. "I-I was lying Miroku! Don't leave me... please don't ever leave me."

InuYasha's sobs shaked Miroku's entire body, and he could only stand there. This was the first time he had ever seen InuYasha cry, and he almost didn't know what to do. Then it hit him. He would do what he had wanted to do for as long as he could remember.

"InuYasha..." he whispered, lifting the boy's face to look into his tear-filled eyes. "You can have me any way you want."

The half-demons eyes widened at Miroku's words. Any inkling of brain power he had left was gone as he saw Miroku lean into him. Both of their eyes slid closed and their lips finally connected. InuYasha felt as though his lips were on fire against his love's. In all his nights of dreaming and wondering, he had never once imagined it being as good as this.

Their lips finally parted and each tooke a deep breath, letting it out slowly. InuYasha opened his eyes and stopped. There it was. Miroku opened his eyes and saw InuYasha staring at him, the smile on his lips broadening. It was the smile that InuYasha had dreamt of, had wanted to see for so long.

"I love you," InuYasha whispered. There was nothing else he could do. Anything else just didn't seem right.

Miroku chuckled softly, resting his head against InuYasha's. "I love you, too," he told him, gently playing with the ends of his now black hair. "And I promise that I will NEVER leave you."

InuYasha could only return Miroku's smile and press his lips to his once again.

**AN: **Ahhhhhhh, that took forever, but I liked it:) I really hope that you did, too. Please leave me some reviews and tell me what you thought of it. Thanks! Go, review, and be merry my lovelies.

kagomes-wanna-be

REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: **I hope you guys liked this story, 'cause this is the last chapter. Please let me know if you enjoyed it, and check out my other stories. Finally, the conclusion of And They All Die Young!

**And They All Die Young**

**Part 3**

**kagomes-wanna-be**

Miroku and InuYasha's laughs echoed across the clearing and into the surrounding forest. They were keeled over, their hands attempting to muffle the sounds by pressing to their mouths, almost in tears. "Oh wow," InuYasha managed out, starting to calm down. "I don't think I've ever laughed that hard."

Miroku giggled a couple of times, running his hands through his hair as he shook his head. "Me either," he told his love, taking a deep breath to calm down more.

InuYasha sighed and rested his head back down on Miroku's chest, the giggling ceasing finally. His head rose and fell with Miroku's chest as he caught his breath, reaching over and lacing his fingers with InuYasha's again.

They had been laying in the tall grasses for hours, speaking about anything and everything. There was still so much to learn about each other, though, and they were willing to spend the rest of their lives doing so.

Miroku stared at the grey sky as he played with InuYasha's fingers gently, staying silent and simply enjoying the moment. A thought was stuck in his mind however, and he finally spoke up. "So... How does this age thing work precisely?" he asked. "I mean, how is it that you're as old as you are?"

There was another sigh before InuYasha cleared his throat. "Well, I'm a half demon."

"Obviously.

"Shut up," InuYasha said half-heartedly, hitting his hand back against Miroku's stomach. "As I was saying, I'm a half demon, which means that I'm human and demon. Obviously," he added playfully before continuing. "You know the aging rate of a human, but a dog demon ages far slower. One demon year is equivalent to 20 human years."

"That is a long time," Miroku admitted softly.

"Yeah, but half-dog demons age at half that pace, so 10 years for one demon year."

Miroku was silent for a moment before swallowing. "Oh," he strained out, his voice cracking.

"What is it?" InuYasha asked, looking up at Miroku with a worried look on his face.

Miroku couldn't help but smile at the look of worry on InuYasha's face. He looked so adorable that way. "Nothing to worry about," he said, leaning down to kiss the top of InuYasha's head. He thought better than to lie to his love though and sighed, laying back again. "It's just... I'm going to age so much slower than you... You could live an excess of 500 more years and I'm going to barely make it t-"

"Please, don't talk about that right now," InuYasha said with a pain in his voice, turning to curl into Miroku's side and burry his head into his shoulder. "I've spent too many nights thinking about that. For tonight let's just think about how happy we are and how happy we're going to be together."

The soft quiver in InuYasha's voice created a lump in his through and he nodded his head. "Okay," he whispered, wrapping his arms around the young man. "I won't."

InuYasha smiled gratefully and nuzzled into Miroku's shoulder, holding his eyes closed and taking a deep breath. Miroku's scent was so strong even when his nose was human, and he knew he'd never be able to live without it.

Miroku kept his eyes open, however, and gazed down at InuYasha. It was strange to see him in his human form, even after all these years together, but it was due to this form that they were together now. He doubted that InuYasha ever would have cracked if he were still an arrogant half-demon. He almost wished that the new moon had been two days ago when he had run into him at Goshinboku.

A sudden thought passed through his mind and his brow furrowed gently. "InuYasha?"

"Hnn?" was the only noise that came from the nearly sleeping man.

"What were you doing in the woods the other night?"

InuYasha's eyes snapped open and he laid there for a moment before clearing his throat. "Oh, um, nothing," he said finally, sitting up and bringing his knees up.

Miroku sat up with him, setting his hand on his shoulder. "InuYasha, what is it?"

He stayed silent for a moment before looking back at the monk. "It was a hut," he admitted. "The outline for a hut, at least. I was going to build it for everyone to live in when we were all still together... but then everyone went away..." he trailed off as he stared out into the distance, seeing the grays of the horizon turning to a soft blue in the rays of the rising sun.

Miroku bit his lip and stared at the back of InuYasha's head before a smile spread across his lips. He shifted onto his knees behind InuYasha and leaned forward, wrapping his arms around the man. "Build it for us."

"What?" InuYasha asked in shock, turning to look over his shoulder at the other man.

"Build the hut for us to live in," Miroku elaborated. "Just me and you."

"A-Are you sure?"

Miroku chuckled at the quiver in his voice and nodded his head. "Of course I'm sure. I love you InuYasha, and I want to live with you," Miroku told him honestly. "And I know that there are people in this world who won't accept us, but we'll be far enough away from everyone that if they don't like it then they can just not come near our home."

InuYasha felt his heart begin to flutter in pure happiness, and he leaned back to press his lips against Miroku's. "I love you," he whispered, taking Miroku's hands in his own.

"I love you too, InuYasha," Miroku whispered, kissing the man once more before resting his chin on his shoulder and looking out towards the horizon.

InuYasha sighed happily and rested his head back on Miroku's shoulder, staring at the horizon as well. The sun rose slowly and cast its rays across the island, warming both of their faces.

Miroku turned to look at InuYasha, his breath hitching at the sight of his love's transformation. InuYasha's hair slowly faded from the raven color it was at that moment to its normal shining silver, his dark eyes bleeding golden as the sun hit them. The half-demon's head turned to stare at the monk quizzically. "What?" he asked grouchily.

A soft smile played at Miroku's lips and he shook his head. "Nothing," he said, resting the side of his head against InuYasha's gently. "Just thinking about how amazing you are."

"Keh," InuYasha responded, just looking forward.

The monk sighed gently and let his eyes slide closed. He told himself that he should've realized that InuYasha would act the same way he always did when he returned back to normal. He just hoped that InuYasha didn't let himself pull too far away.

But then InuYasha put all those thoughts to rest.

He yawned loudly before turning his head, kissing Miroku again gently. "Come on, we should get back to the village before I pass out from tiredness," he said.

Miroku stared at him in astonishment before a loving smile spread across his lips. "Okay."

InuYasha stood up and stretched before turning to help Miroku up. Miroku happily took InuYasha's hand and grabbed his staff, standing up. They kissed one more time before turning to head back to the village, getting onto the path.

They were walking for a while in silence, Miroku holding his staff and InuYasha's hands tucked neatly into his sleeves. There was a silence between the two of them before InuYasha got a mischievous grin. "Miroku?"

"Yes, InuYasha?"

"So I was wondering... which one of us is the girl in all of this?" InuYasha asked.

"Wh-What?" Miroku spluttered, staring wide eyed at InuYasha. "A-Are you..." he trailed off before smiling and tilting his head to the side. "Why you of course! You're the one with the pretty long hair!"

"What?!" InuYasha cried. "You can't be serious! We both know that you're weaker and that I'm always protecting you!"

"True," Miroku said deviously, peering at InuYasha from the corner of his eye. "But you're the one with the adorable puppy ears!" he cried out, reaching up and rubbing one of the furry appendages before darting away.

"Oi! What the hell?!" InuYasha cried as he pulled away, his ear twitching and flicking madly as he pawed at it. He finally realized that Miroku was running away laughing and growled. "Hey! Get back here monk!"

Miroku merely laughed harder and began to run faster, seeing the village through the trees. "Miroku! You know I'm faster than you!" InuYasha cried from behind him, and the monk began to push himself harder. InuYasha growled playfully, purposefully staying just a ways behind and letting the monk run himself out.

They finally stumbled into the village, Miroku coming to a rather ungraceful halt in front of Kaede's hut. He gasped for breath and rested his hands on his knee, not having pushed himself so hard in a long time.

He looked up to see a calm and collected InuYasha towering over him, a triumphant smirk on his face and hands on his hips. "And that's why you should be the girl."

"What?" a stunned voice asked from their side. They both righted themselves and turned to see a confused looking Kagome standing next to a curious looking Kaede.

"Oh, um, nothing. Forgive our raucity arrival," Miroku said with a polite smile, trying to hold down the blush forming on his cheeks.

"'Tis alright child," Kaede said with a soft smile.

"Where were you guys?" Kagome asked.

"Keh. Nowhere," InuYasha said, turning back to Miroku. "I'm going to go rest."

InuYasha walked past Miroku and towards the hut, knocking his shoulder against the monk's as he did. Miroku merely smiled and peered over his shoulder at InuYasha's retreating form. He caught Kagome's raised eyebrow and slightly startled look, but only smiled brighter and shrugged before turning and following his love.

**AN: **And so it ends.

I hope you guys enjoyed this story, because I did. I just wanted to write something fluffy and all yaoi, and I think I did it pretty well:) Please tell me what you thought and if there's anything I can work on. Also, for any Death Note or just yaoi fans, I'm going to be putting up an L/Light story, so please watch out for that.

Thank you guys!

Go, be merry, and review.

kagomes-wanna-be


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